Food Borne Illness

Food borne illnesses are becoming more and more common as the fast food industry is growing. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, some of the food borne illnesses include E. Coli, which can cause illnesses such as pneumonia or even death; Rat-bite fever, which can be a fatal disease; Salmonella, which can cause diarrhea and up to 72 hours of cramps, and many more. In his novel explaining the dark side of the fast food system, Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser writes, “Every day in the United States, roughly 200,000 people are sickened by a foodborne disease, 900 are hospitalized, and fourteen die. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than a quarter of the American population suffers a bout of food poisoning each year.” The numbers in these statistics are higher than they should be for this specific topic. The fact that more than one fourth of the citizens in our nation will suffer due to a foodborne illness and fourteen innocent people will end up dead because of a food that has been consumed should be completely unacceptable. When looking at these numbers, it is obvious that there will always be a risk for a person that is consuming any type of fast food, which should not be the case at all. Although it seems impossible, there needs to be a way for everyone to be completely free of any harm or risk of disease when it comes to the foods we are consuming.

 www.cdc.gov